Fred's Girls
by ChildDevil04
Summary: This is a oneshot Hermione and Fred. Basically some interaction on the eve of their wedding. What will Harry think? implied HarryHermione


Disclaimer: I'm obviously not the great J.K. Rowling. The characters are hers, even the setting, the rest is the result of my fevered imagination.

Italics mean dreams or memories.

Hermione sat on the cool grass of the lawn in front of Hogwarts, seeing not the peaceful green sea of grass spread before her, but, rather the muddied, bloodied wreckage that it had been on this day six years before. The day that the side of Light and the side of Dark had met in the final battle of a long, torturous war.

_The battle had begun at dawn and lasted until about 2 hours before sunset. The battle had ended quickly, all the Death Eaters has passed out when Voldemort died, his life had been tied to theirs through the Dark Mark and his death caused their systems to go into shock. Shock that fully half of them never recovered from, those that did recover, in most cases, did so as Squibs, no longer able to perform even the simplest of spells. But the battle had raged for hours as Harry searched for Voldemort who was isolated in a remote vantage point from which he directed the battle without actually getting involved himself. The final showdown between Harry and Voldemort was rather anticlimactic considering the build-up to it. They dueled briefly and then Harry had thrown the Killing Curse, not at Voldemort, but at Nagini, the final Horcrux. Then, while Voldemort was distracted by the destruction of that bit of his soul Harry tossed aside his old wand, the one he knew wouldn't let him kill Voldemort, and pulled out another. Feeling the initials carved into the smooth wood, JTP, he let the anger and pain he felt towards Voldemort swell within him and at the height of the wave of emotion he shouted those two fateful words._

_As Voldemorts body hit the ground, lifeless forevermore, so did those of the Death Eaters still living and that of Harry himself. Exhausted by what he had done, he brought his fathers wand up and pressed it to his heart. "I did it dad" he whispered. "I avenged you." Then he slipped into unconsciousness._

A bird burst into song and with a start Hermione remembered where she was. As she watched the sun set over the Forbidden Forest she allowed a tear to slip down her cheek. Harry, despite the best efforts of ever mediwitch, mediwizard, healer, potions master and what have you in the country had failed to ever wake up. Two months after the final battle in which so many were lost the Savior of the Wizarding World was lost as well. Gone without knowing what he left behind.

As the sky deepened a small girl with ebony hair and intelligent green eyes came to stand beside Hermione. "Why are you crying mommy?" The girl asked, drawing Hermione's attention to the silent tears coursing down her face.

"Memories Lily hone, just memories."

"Are you thinking of my daddy?"

"Yes baby. I miss him very much and I was thinking about him." Hermione drew her daughter, her Lily, onto her lap. "Have I told you about the time your dad and I had a snowball fight here on this lawn with your uncle Severus?"

"No. Tell me!" Lily demanded, sounding very much like her mother.

Hermione chuckled and began. After that story Lily demanded another and the two lay there on the grass for quite some time with Hermione telling Lily stories of her past.

"Do I have to call Unca Fred daddy?" Lily asked suddenly, part way through Hermione's recounting of the pranks played their fifth year.

"What?" Hermione asked, startled.

"Nana Jane said tomorrow Unca Fred's gonna become my daddy. And I like Unca Fred, but I don't want to call him daddy. He's not my daddy, my daddy's dead."

"He's going to be your step-dad sweetie. But you don't have to call him daddy if you don't want to. You can call him Uncle Fred if you want."

"Would daddy be mad if I called Unca Fred daddy?"

"Not if it makes you happy. Your daddy would want you to be happy, no matter what it takes."

"Can I call Unca Fred papa? 'Cause Erik calls Unca Bill papa. It's like daddy but it's different. And Unca Fred's not my daddy, but he's gonna be my step-daddy, so can I call him papa?"

"If you want to baby."

"Will he like it?"

"Why don't you ask him baby. I think that's him coming over here looking for us."

Lily looked over her shoulder and seeing the tall redhead coming towards them she pulled herself from her mothers arms and launched herself at him. "Unca Fred" she crowed. "I have a question Unca Fred. Can I ask it?"

"Go ahead Lily scamp."

"Can I call you papa?"

Fred stopped and looked at her, his cerulean blue eyes suddenly brimming with tears, his throat choked up. "Do you want to call me papa Lily scamp?" He finally choked out.

"Yes. You're not my daddy cause he's gone, but step-daddy sounds boring. I wanna call you papa."

"Then you can call me papa."

Lily turned her startling green eyes, so like Harry's, upon him. "Are you crying Unca Fred? Do you not want me to call you papa?"

"Tears of happiness Lily scamp, cause you want to call me papa, that makes me happy."

"Tears of happiness? But tears are sad." Lily declared this with the confidence only a six year old can possess.

"Sometimes, when you are really happy, you cry."

"Oh. That's funny. Crying cause you're happy? But mommy was crying cause she's sad." Lily sounded confused.

"Was she? Why don't you go find Uncle Severus and have him show you a new potion. I'll cheer your mommy up so she's not sad anymore."

"Promise?" The lure of learning she had gotten from her mother wasn't quite strong enough to lure Lily away from her hurting mother without some assurance that all would be well.

"Promise darlin. Now, go find Uncle Severus and tell him I said to keep you out of trouble."

"Okay." Lily submitted to the hug Fred gave her and the second she was released she flew up the hill to the castle, eager to learn a new potion. Fred continued crossing the grass until he was standing in front of Hermione. Circling behind her he dropped onto the grass and pulling her shoulders gently he settled Hermione against his chest. They sat together in silence for several moments, watching the moonrise from behind the castle.

"Are you okay sweetheart?" Fred asked finally, breaking the quiet.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"That precocious child of yours told me you'd been crying."

"I miss Harry." Hermione said, seeing no reason to try to previcate further. She twisted the engagement ring from Harry, now worn on her right hand, while she spoke. "Coming back here for the first time since he died has made me see how much I still miss him." She tensed, not sure of what Fred's reaction would be to hearing this.

If Fred noticed the sudden tension in her muscles he made no sign. "I miss him to" he said, surprising her. "Harry was like another brother to me and I miss him as much as I miss Charlie." He paused for a long moment. "If you don't think you're ready" he said finally, pain and sorrow in his voice, "I understand. We can postpone the wedding."

"No," Hermione said fiercely, turning in his arms. "I will always love Harry and I'll miss him everyday, but I also love you Fredrick Weasley. We will get married tomorrow. I wouldn't have accepted your proposal if I didn't think I was ready to become your wife."

Fred pulled her hands out so he could view them side-by-side, an engagement ring glistening on each ring finger. "Do you think Harry is okay with this? With me taking care of his girls?"

"I know he'd want us to be happy and you make us happy so he'd be content. And I'm sure he would rather it be you taking care of us, a man he loved like a brother, then some guy he doesn't know. With you he has a guarantee that we will be well loved and taken care of for the rest of forever."

Fred laid his lips against Hermione's in a kiss as tender and gentle as the feelings that welled within him upon hearing Hermione's unshaken confidence that Harry would have been okay with this. With a long, slow, drugging kiss he proved to her just how much he loved her. After a time the need for oxygen became to great and they broke apart, but remained seated on the now cold, damp grass.

"You know what I regret?" Hermione said suddenly.

"What do you regret love?"

"That not only did Harry never get to meet Lily, but, unless he could hear us while he lay in that coma, he never even knew he was going to be a father."

"But I thought . . ." Fred started but Hermione cut him off.

"I know you, and everyone else, thought that he knew but he didn't. We were only together once, the night before the final battle. I had wanted to wait until we got married, like I insisted with you, but that night . . ." her voice trailed off for a bit before gaining strength again. "I guess I had a premonition of some sort that it might be our only chance to express our love to that fullest extent. Regardless of our reason it was the only time we were together."

Fred stared at her in surprise. "But Lily was born 8 months, 1 week, and 5 days after the final battle."

"She was early. It happens. There is no way she was conceived any earlier."

"No wonder you love her so much. It was already obvious that you loved her not only because she was your daughter, and in a way, Harry's last gift to you, but now it's even clearer. You came so close to not having anything of him."

"I don't mind telling you that if it hadn't been for Lily I might have killed myself after Harry died. Before he died, while he lay there in that coma, I had hope. Right up until the second he died I was hoping he would wake up to take care of Lily and I. After he died the only thing that kept me going was his child, knowing that a part of him would live on. When she was born and I held her that first time and saw Harry in her face I thanked God that I had continued to live. Until I fell in love with you she was my only reason to live. Now I have another reason as well." She brushed her lips lightly across his. "I do love you ever so much Fred Weasley."

"Glad to hear it, because I love you too. And I'm very grateful to Lily for being that which kept you alive."

They sat together in silence for a while, again. They were an unusual couple in that respect, at least others thought so. The know-it-all bookworm Hermione Granger and the veritable prankster Fred Weasley silent together for long periods of time? Unthinkable. And yet the two were so comfortable with each other that they found the silence to be just as comfortable as their familiar bantering. Especially wrapped as they were around each other, there was no need to speak to know the other was there. They frequently touched, a gentle brush of fingers, the brush of a foot, something to keep a fairly constant contact between them. That had bothered Hermione at first, Fred's seemingly constant need to be touched, but the more time she spent with the touchy-feely red-head the more she realized that she liked the constant contact. Now she initiated contact just as frequently as Fred did. And all of this contacting was done in silence. A silence as comforting as your favorite pair of jeans, washed to a comfortable thickness, shaped to your body. This silence fit them like a glove. They didn't need to talk they just needed to be together.

Finally Fred noticed the time and with a sigh he nudged Hermione, who had fallen into a light doze, awake. "We should go back to the castle love and get some sleep. Tomorrow will be here soon."

"Carry me?" Hermione asked sweetly. "To tired to walk."

"I'll carry you up to the dormitory, but you have to go up those steps yourself. I doubt the charms on them have been removed."

"Fair deal." Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck, snuggled into his arms and promptly fell back asleep.

Fred chuckled softly and then stood carefully, easily balancing his precious burden. Holding her close to his chest he set off with long strides across the lawn to the castle. Once inside he moved with surefooted grace on a path that was forever emblazoned on his mind to the Gryffindor dormitory. They had all been offered guest chambers in the castle, and some of the guests had taken advantage of that offer, but Hermione, the Weasleys, and many of the other former Hogwarts students invited, Neville, Draco, Blaise, Pansy, Padma, Oliver and others had chosen to sleep in their old dormitories. At the portrait of the Fat Lady Fred stopped, unwilling to utter the inanely muggle password Lily had chosen but a movement in his arms reminded him of his mission to get Hermione to bed. "Open Sesame" he muttered quietly, hoping to pretend he'd never said it. Once inside the comfortingly familiar circular common room he stopped at the front of the girls staircase.

"Hermione love, time for your end of the deal." He said softly. "I can't take you up that staircase."

"Not fair. Sleepy."

"Very fair. I carried you all the way up here. All you have to do is climb one measly staircase." He placed her carefully onto her feet.

"Stairs are exhausting."

"Very. Tomorrow I'll carry you up every single staircase in the castle if you want. Tonight you get to climb this set by yourself."

"Fine." Hermione lifted her head from where it had drooped against his chest and brushed a quick kiss across his lips. "Goodnight Fred."

"Goodnight Hermione." Fred watched as she climbed the stairs slowly and wearily. When he heard the click of her door closing he turned and went up his own staircase, suddenly feeling the effects of a long day.

POV-HERMIONE

Hermione stumbled the last few feet to her bed and fell upon it with a groan. She turned her head and, seeing Lily in the next bed over fast asleep, sighed with relief. Without bothering to get up and change she crawled up into the bed and as soon as her head hit the pillow she was fast asleep. A sleep that was restful but not calm. A sleep riddled with dreams. Images came and went without any pattern and with no discernable reason until finally, one stayed.

_Hermione found herself in a quiet, peaceful forest. With a smile of pleasure she started to walk through it, following no particular path. After some time she came upon a meadow filled with wildflowers. In the center was a stone pavilion covered in ivy and wild roses growing in abandon upon it. With a small cry of delight she hurried forward to explore it, eager to see what was concealed within the cool green shade. Locating the door she stepped inside eagerly, only to be brought up short by the sight that met her eyes._

_"Harry?" She whispered, hardly able to believe what she was seeing. The man standing in front of her looked like Harry and yet he didn't. He looked peaceful in a way her Harry never had._

_"Yes 'Mione, it's me." He smiled gently, lovingly at her stunned expression. "It's not very often I get to shock you speechless 'Mione" he teased. "I didn't think this would be one of those times."_

_"But how is this possible Harry? How are you here in my dream? I thought you died?"_

_"There's my 'Mione" Harry said with a teasing grin. "Always wanting to know the how, the why and the wherefore and stressing until it's all fully explained. Before you stress too much I am dead, this is not a sign that I've really been alive for the last six years. As to the how of me being here, well we don't have enough time for me to explain that, and to be honest I don't really understand it myself." He paused for a moment and looked at her wistfully. "I wish I understood it. I would love to be able to explain it to you, I know you'd love to hear about it."_

_"It's okay" Hermione said, stepping forward. "You don't need to be able to explain it. Can I hug you or are you insubstantial?"_

_"Insubwhat?"_

_"Insubstantial, without substance. Basically are you real or a ghost?"_

_"I'm real. You can hug me."_

_"Good." Hermione closed the distance between them and flung herself into his arms. "I have missed you so much these last six years Harry. Why did you leave me? I needed you?" She buried her face in his chest, inhaling his beloved, familiar scent._

_"My body wouldn't sustain me love. When I used the Killing Curse on Voldemort it took every bit of magic in my body to do such Dark Magic. And you know how all the Death Eaters collapsed because of the Dark Mark? I was connected to him through that damn scar and it pulled my life force from me. My body couldn't take the stress and was only able to last as long as it did because of the potions Poppy was forcing down my throat. Potions I hated. My mind was aware but I couldn't do a thing about it and I knew I was going to die. It was driving me crazy. I can't tell you how many times I tired to tell you I loved you. Or the joy and pain I felt when I learned you were pregnant. I wanted so badly to be able to wake up and take care of you and my child and I knew that was never going to happen. The day my parents came for me was bittersweet. I was so happy to leave that pain wracked, miserable existence behind, but with it I was leaving you, the one thing in this world I loved more then anything, and my child. A child I would never get to see. But now I'm glad I went. It let you find happiness, eventually."_

_"Happiness! Harry James Potter I was miserable without you. If it hadn't been for Lily I would have killed myself. When you died, my world shattered."_

_"But you picked up the pieces love, just like I knew you would. And you found Fred. I know you, if I was still lying there you would still be at my bedside all day every day instead of moving on. I let go for you, so you could live."_

_"Always the hero Harry. My hero." Hermione looked into his eyes, her own brimming with tears. "You're not angry about Fred then?"_

_"No way. I couldn't be happier for you. You deserve it Hermione, you can't spend all of your life on what might have been had I lived. You've got a part of me and our love in our beautiful daughter, now go and live a new life with Fred."_

_"I'll never forget you."_

_"I hop not. And take my ring off. It's part of your past. Give it to Lily when she's old enough. I love her name by the way, thank you for naming her after my mother. And tell her, when you give her the ring, that I want her to have it, and that I love her and wish I could be there while she grows up. But I want you to take the ring off. You need to shed your past and start your future tomorrow."_

_"My ring? You want me to take it off?"_

_"Yes. Wear it on a chain for a while if you have to, but take it off. Fred deserves all of you, not the part that is left over from me. I'm dead and I won't be back. I know it doesn't mean you don't love me. Just keep that love in your heart."_

_"Okay. I think I'm starting to wake up, will you kiss me one last time?"_

_"Of course love." Harry bent his dark head and bestowed upon her a tender kiss filled with love and sorrow. "Tell Fred I said he better take good care of you and Lily. And 'Mione, I love you."_

Harry and idyllic hideaway in the meadow in the forest faded away, his final words ringing in her mind until with a start Hermione woke. When she opened her eyes and saw the red canopy above her instead of the stone roof she felt tears pooling in her eyes. As she lifted her hand to wipe her eyes she discovered it was fisted around a chain perfectly suited for the engagement ring Harry had urged her to remove. Sitting on the edge of the bed she stared at the ring on her finger and the chain in her hand, trying to convince herself to fulfill what amounted to, in a way, Harry's last request. Finally, as the tears slid down her cheeks she pulled Harry's ring off her finger and slid it onto the chain.

She started to fasten the chain round her neck and then hesitated. After another moment of thought she lowered it. 'No, today is for Fred alone. I'll wear it starting tomorrow but today I'll come to him without any mark of Harry's former claim on me. Today, Lily can wear it.'

"Mommy?" Lily climbed onto the bed next to her. "Mommy, why are you crying?"

"Because I'm happy and sad. But I'm all better now." Hermione wiped her eyes and smiled brightly. "I have a surprise for you."

"For me?"

"Yes, close your eyes." Hermione shrank the chain and ring so they wouldn't look out of place on a six year old and then fastened the necklace around Lily's neck. "There you go baby. What do you think?"

"Pretty! Is it mine forever?"

"Only for today baby. I thought it would look pretty with your dress. It's mommy's necklace, so be careful with it."

"Okay." Lily slipped off the bed and out of the room, presumably to show off her new necklace.

Hermione looked at her right hand for a moment, a hand that looked strangely empty and felt oddly light before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. With her forces marshaled she stood and went into the bathroom to start her preparations.

Later that day, after an absolutely breathtaking ceremony Fred and Hermione mingled with their guests, never far from each other. As Fred wrapped his left hand around her right hand and twined their fingers together he noticed that he did not encounter a customary obstacle. Pulling her aside he lifted her hand and noticed for the first time that Harry's ring was not in its usual place, that her hands were, in fact, empty of any rings but his.

"You didn't have to take his ring off love." Fred said, concern in his eyes. "Not if you're not ready."

"Yes I did Fred. You deserve all of me. It took a dream to see that, I've been a little slow lately, but it's true."

"A dream?"

"Yes, a dream. I saw Harry last night. He told me to take it off. He made me aware of how unfair it was to you. And he's right, it was unfair to you. He gave me a chain so I could wear it around my neck until I get used to the idea of not wearing it at all. But I'm not even wearing that today, Lily is. Today I'm all yours and I hope sometime soon I'll be all yours every day."

"You saw Harry in a dream? And he told you to take thing ring off? So he's okay with us being together and with me being a dad to Lily?"

"Yes, to all of those. He said to tell you that you'd better take care of us or else. But mostly he was saying goodbye and making me let go."

"I see. Well, I'm glad Harry doesn't mind me taking care of his girls. That makes me even happier then I already was. And I promise you and Harry," he looked briefly at the sky before looking back into her chocolate brown gaze, "that I will always take care of you and Lily. I will always cherish Harry's girls."

"Not Harry's girls Fred. We're your girls now."

"My girls. I like the sound of that." Fred grinned. "Fred's girls. It's got a great ring to it."

"Yes, yes it does. I love you Fred."

"I love you too Hermione. My girl." He gave her a quick kiss and then moving quickly he snatched Lily up when she ran by. Wrapping the two of them, his girls, into a hug Fred felt his heart expand with sheer joy. 'Thanks mate' he thought to Harry. 'They might be my girls now, but I promise not to forget that they were yours first and I'll love them forever. Thanks for being okay with letting me take care of them in your place, with letting me take your place in their lives. I promise you won't regret it.' "I love you Lily scamp, and you to Hermione."

"Love you too papa, and mommy. We're a family now!"

And they were, Fred and his girls.

El Fin


End file.
